Strawberry Ice CreamServes 16Ingredients:Ree | The Pioneer WomanDesserts3 cups Half-and-half2 cups Sugar1 whole Vanilla Bean (or 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract)9 whole Large Egg Yolks3 cups Heavy Cream1 pound Strawberries, Hulled2 Tablespoons SugarInstructions:Stir together the half-and-half and 2 cups sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Split the vanilla bean, scrape out the caviar, and add it to the mixture (or add the vanilla extract.) Heat the mixture until it's hot but not simmering or boiling.
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks vigorously with a whisk until they start to lighten in color, about 2 minutes.
Next, grab a ladle of the hot half-and-half mixture and very slowly drizzle it into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking the whole time. (The purpose of this is to temper the egg yolks and bring them to a good temperature before adding them to the pan.) Repeat with a second ladle of hot half-and-half mixture, making sure to whisk the whole time.
Pour the tempered yolks into the saucepan with the rest of the half and half mixture and stir gently with a wooden spoon for 2 to 4 minutes, cooking it slowly until it's thick enough to coat the spoon.
Pour the thick liquid through a fine mesh strainer and into a clean bowl. Add the heavy cream to the bowl and stir gently to combine. Refrigerate this mixture for 2 hours, or until chilled.
Meanwhile, combine the strawberries and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a blender. Puree until smooth (or you can stop just short of smooth if you want a little texture.) Pour the pureed strawberries into the chilled custard mixture and stir.
Now pour this mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze it according to its directions. (You may have to do it in two batches depending on its size.) After it freezes, transfer it to a freezer-safe container and freeze it for at least 4 hours, or until frozen firm.
Serve with strawberry garnish!Cook time: PT20MPrep time: PT4H

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Strawberry Ice Cream

This is the time, a few days before the Fourth, when we start mowing, weedeating, weeding flower beds, cleaning the house, getting out our drink tubs, hosing down the porch and sidewalk, blowing out the garage, and otherwise try to get our homestead gussied up before approximately 162 people come over to our place to watch the fireworks my husband and his brother set off.

This is also the time, a few days before the Fourth, when I start thinking about what flavors of ice cream I’m going to make for our big cookout.

This is also the time, a few days before the Fourth, when I try to decide if I can make ice cream this early and keep my grubby paws off of it before the guests arrive. Right now I’d estimate I have about a 38% chance of keeping my grubby paws off of it if I make it this early. So I think I’ll wait till at least tomorrow, when the chance increases to 46%.

This year I know I’m making strawberry ice cream, which is one of my favorite flavors of homemade ice cream because the intense strawberry flavor just knocks me flat with bliss. Here’s how I do it!

I use the same ice cream base for any ice cream I make, whether it’s vanilla or coffee or strawberry or blackberry or mint chocolate chip cookie dough bubble gum surprise. It’s super easy…you just have to make it once to get the swing of it. Start by pouring half-and-half into a medium saucepan over medium-low heat…

Then add sugar and stir it together.

Gee. I wonder why ice cream is so delicious?

If I have one in my pantry, which I almost always make sure to do, I use a vanilla bean in my ice cream base because the little flecks make my skirt fly up. Split the bean down the middle and use the back side of the knife to scrape out the caviar…

Then whisk it into the half-and-half mixture.

You can also throw in the bean itself during this simmering process, just to inject as much vanilla flavor as possible.

Now, just let the half-and-half mixture heat up until it’s hot but not simmering or boiling.

Now, violently throw the egg yolks into a big ol’ bowl…

Then beat the egg yolks for about 2 minutes—until about the time your arm feels like it’s about to fall off the rest of your body, you’ll know it’s time to quit.

Or is that just me?

(It should be a little lighter in color than this.)

Now, grab a ladle full of the hot half-and-half mixture…

And very slowly drizzle it into the beaten egg yolks, whisking the whole time you add it. This tempers the yolks—brings them to temperature slowly—so that when you pour them in the saucepan in a minute, they don’t freak out and scramble.

After the first ladle is whisked in, I usually add a second one too…for good measure. Just whisk it the whole time you’re adding so the warm half-and-half won’t cause the eggs to scramble.

Because then you’ll cry.

Now, just pour the tempered yolks into the saucepan with the rest of the half-and-half mixture…

And cook it over medium-low heat, stirring gently, for about 2 to 3 minutes or so…

Until it’s thick enough to coat the spoon.

After it’s nice and thick, pour it through a fine mesh strainer and into a clean bowl. That way, if the eggs mess up and curdle a bit (mine did just a tiny bit) the end result will be nice and smooth.

After you’ve strained the custard, pour in some heavy cream.

Then just stir it together, cover it with plastic wrap, and chill it in the fridge for at least 2 hours. That’ll give it a head start before you pour it in the ice cream maker!

Now, this is basically vanilla ice cream base—from here, you can go on to add whatever flavors you want.

While the mixture is chilling, make the strawberry puree: Throw hulled strawberries into a blender with a small amount of sugar…

And blend it until it’s totally pureed. You can stop short of totally pureeing it if you want chunks of strawberry, but I really like to break up the pieces since they can get a little hard when they freeze. What I want is the awesomely fresh strawberry flavor, and pureeing the strawberries really does the trick!

When the ice cream base is all chilled, pour in the strawberry puree…

And stir it all together. And do whatever is within your human power to resist the urge to drink this with a straw.

My goodness.

Now, pour the mixture into your ice cream maker (Pssst: I’m giving two away on PW Home and Garden today!)…

And freeze it according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Note that depending on the size of your ice cream maker, you may need to do this in two batches—just keep the second batch of mix in the fridge until the first batch has frozen.

Now, the hardest part of home made ice cream is the patience: When it comes out of the ice cream maker, it’s basically soft serve (which is delicious, of course). So I transfer it into freezer containers (I use these) and stick it in the freezer for at least 4-6 hours. It’s really better if you freeze it overnight, so try to make your ice cream the day before you need it so it’s nice and firm.

Like this!

Serve it with a fanned-out strawberry: Just make a few slices, stopping short of the stem, then press it with your fingers to fan it out!

Real fancy-like.

Now, about the color: If you want your strawberry ice cream to have a deep pink color, you’ll have to add a little bit of food coloring. The natural color of strawberry ice cream is…well, natural! I happen to like it that way, but feel free to add neon pink food coloring if you want it to be a freaky color.

Stir together the half-and-half and 2 cups sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Split the vanilla bean, scrape out the caviar, and add it to the mixture (or add the vanilla extract.) Heat the mixture until it's hot but not simmering or boiling.

In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks vigorously with a whisk until they start to lighten in color, about 2 minutes.

Next, grab a ladle of the hot half-and-half mixture and very slowly drizzle it into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking the whole time. (The purpose of this is to temper the egg yolks and bring them to a good temperature before adding them to the pan.) Repeat with a second ladle of hot half-and-half mixture, making sure to whisk the whole time.

Pour the tempered yolks into the saucepan with the rest of the half and half mixture and stir gently with a wooden spoon for 2 to 4 minutes, cooking it slowly until it's thick enough to coat the spoon.

Pour the thick liquid through a fine mesh strainer and into a clean bowl. Add the heavy cream to the bowl and stir gently to combine. Refrigerate this mixture for 2 hours, or until chilled.

Meanwhile, combine the strawberries and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a blender. Puree until smooth (or you can stop just short of smooth if you want a little texture.) Pour the pureed strawberries into the chilled custard mixture and stir.

Now pour this mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze it according to its directions. (You may have to do it in two batches depending on its size.) After it freezes, transfer it to a freezer-safe container and freeze it for at least 4 hours, or until frozen firm.

Stir together the half-and-half and 2 cups sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Split the vanilla bean, scrape out the caviar, and add it to the mixture (or add the vanilla extract.) Heat the mixture until it's hot but not simmering or boiling.

In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks vigorously with a whisk until they start to lighten in color, about 2 minutes.

Next, grab a ladle of the hot half-and-half mixture and very slowly drizzle it into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking the whole time. (The purpose of this is to temper the egg yolks and bring them to a good temperature before adding them to the pan.) Repeat with a second ladle of hot half-and-half mixture, making sure to whisk the whole time.

Pour the tempered yolks into the saucepan with the rest of the half and half mixture and stir gently with a wooden spoon for 2 to 4 minutes, cooking it slowly until it's thick enough to coat the spoon.

Pour the thick liquid through a fine mesh strainer and into a clean bowl. Add the heavy cream to the bowl and stir gently to combine. Refrigerate this mixture for 2 hours, or until chilled.

Meanwhile, combine the strawberries and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a blender. Puree until smooth (or you can stop just short of smooth if you want a little texture.) Pour the pureed strawberries into the chilled custard mixture and stir.

Now pour this mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze it according to its directions. (You may have to do it in two batches depending on its size.) After it freezes, transfer it to a freezer-safe container and freeze it for at least 4 hours, or until frozen firm.

i can’t believe i’m first…this looks so refreshing – it’s gonna be a hot 4th in Texas, with lots of kids around this would be perfect.

cynthia

i can’t believe i’m first…this looks so refreshing – it’s gonna be a hot 4th in Texas, with lots of kids around this would be perfect.

Alice

Wow that looks great! My family loves ice cream! Thanks for the recipe in time for the Independence Day Holiday weekend.

Alice

Wow that looks great! My family loves ice cream! Thanks for the recipe in time for the Independence Day Holiday weekend.

http://cherylbarker.net Cheryl Barker

Homemade strawberry ice cream brings back so many memories for me. Nothing like homemade ice cream from a hand-crank White Mountain freezer!

http://cherylbarker.net Cheryl Barker

Homemade strawberry ice cream brings back so many memories for me. Nothing like homemade ice cream from a hand-crank White Mountain freezer!

http://www.eat2gather.net sheila

Ok we were on the same page! I made strawberry ice cream yesterday…but I made it for my grandma who has to watch her sugar so I made it a little different than yours. Yum so good and refreshing. xoxox Sheila

http://www.eat2gather.net sheila

Ok we were on the same page! I made strawberry ice cream yesterday…but I made it for my grandma who has to watch her sugar so I made it a little different than yours. Yum so good and refreshing. xoxox Sheila

Juli P

yum! your blackberry ice cream from a few years ago is still my absolute all time favorite and most delicious ice cream….but since my kids love strawberry, I’ll be making this when we return from camping this week!

Juli P

yum! your blackberry ice cream from a few years ago is still my absolute all time favorite and most delicious ice cream….but since my kids love strawberry, I’ll be making this when we return from camping this week!

Stephanie

I’m going to give this a try. It looks refreshing, and perfect for the 4th of July picnic.

Stephanie

I’m going to give this a try. It looks refreshing, and perfect for the 4th of July picnic.

http://www.bevcooks.com Bev @ Bev Cooks

The only thing missing is MY ENTIRE HEAD.

http://www.bevcooks.com Bev @ Bev Cooks

The only thing missing is MY ENTIRE HEAD.

Heidi P

I’ve made this and it is truly spectacular. Also, I make strawberry ice cream from my freezer jam too. Ya know when you make freezer jam and there is that bit that you can’t make a full jar from? Well I don’t try to cram it in. I add it to some homemade ice cream. My kids beg for it. Super Duper Yummy!

Heidi P

I’ve made this and it is truly spectacular. Also, I make strawberry ice cream from my freezer jam too. Ya know when you make freezer jam and there is that bit that you can’t make a full jar from? Well I don’t try to cram it in. I add it to some homemade ice cream. My kids beg for it. Super Duper Yummy!

Mary

Fireworks after our evening symphony outdoor concert on July 3rd and then a family trip to our museum, Discovery Place and an Imax movie the next day. Also, did I mention fried chicken, hamburgers , hot dogs, etc. God Bless America !